


The Eleventh Hour

by I_dlovetobeknowunknown



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Dimension Travel, Gen, self indulgent fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-13
Updated: 2019-03-13
Packaged: 2019-11-15 15:43:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18076238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_dlovetobeknowunknown/pseuds/I_dlovetobeknowunknown
Summary: The smaller figure turned. Sirius recoiled like he'd been slapped, face pale as he staggered back and Harry could suddenly see why - Sirius' eyes stared accusingly up at them from that youthful face. "I'm Damian Regulus Black," the kid sneered as he stepped forward, "and you're inmyhouse."~In which the trainwreck that is the Canon universe gets crashed by the possibilities of what could have been.





	The Eleventh Hour

_Order of the Pheonix, Chapter 4:_

 

"WHO HAD TO GET PAST DRAGONS AND SPHINXES AND EVERY OTHER FOUL THING LAST YEAR? WHO SAW HIM COME BACK? WHO HAD TO ESCAPE FROM HIM? ME!"

 

Ron was standing there with his mouth half-open, clearly stunned and at a loss for anything to say, whilst Hermione looked on the verge of tears.

 

"BUT WHY SHOULD I KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON? WHY SHOULD ANYONE BOTHER TO TELL ME WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING?"

 

"Harry, we wanted to tell you, we really did–" Hermione began.

 

"CAN’T’VE WANTED TO THAT MUCH, CAN YOU, OR YOU’D HAVE SENT ME AN OWL, BUT DUMBLEDORE MADE YOU SWEAR–"

 

"Well, he did–"

 

"FOUR WEEKS I’VE BEEN STUCK IN PRIVET DRIVE, NICKING PAPERS OUT OF BINS TO TRY AND FIND OUT WHAT’S BEEN GOING ON–"

 

"We wanted to–"

 

"I SUPPOSE YOU’VE BEEN HAVING A REAL LAUGH, HAVEN’T YOU, ALL HOLED UP HERE TOGETHER–"

 

Whatever else Harry had been about to say got cut off when the floor started shaking. The trembling only rose in frequency and he raised his head to stare at Hermione's fearful eyes, cold regret sliding down his gut. Beneath their feet, the wood shifted, creaks of light peeking through and on instinct, Harry threw up his arms to protect his face. The last thing he saw was bright, shining light before the floor blew up. 

 

The blast slammed him against the wardrobe before he dropped to the floor. Harry gasped, vision half blurred from the onslaught of overwhelming light and pain and tried to turn over, grasping his wand as he wheezed. "Hermione," he croaked out, pushing himself up and ignoring the throbbing of his ribs, "Ron? RON!?" 

 

Overhead, the owls were in a flurry, distress evident and their screeching did nothing to calm the pain radiating through his ears. Harry coughed and slowly crawled over to where he could see a mass of blurry brown. Time seemed to be moving slow, whether due to the ringing in his ears or due to the pain radiating through his body, he couldn't tell. 

 

"Hermione," he whispered, slowly shaking the part of her he could reach, "wake up." He didn't mean for this to happen - he didn't  _mean,_ he shook harder. "Hermione-" a hand descended on his shoulder and Harry wrenched it with all the strength he had left. 

 

"Blimey, Harry," the figure said, voice cracking in pain, "it's me, it's Ron." Hurriedly, Harry let go and sure enough, when he squinted, a mass of blurry red hovered above him. "Here," Ron said hoarsely, sliding something cold onto his face and when Harry blinked, his vision sharpened. "Must have flown off when you got blown back." Ron looked a bit scruffy, a few scratches on his face and copious amounts dust sprinkled over his hair but other than that, he looked none the worse for wear.

 

The room, on the other hand, looked as though a hurricane had flown through it. Chairs were upended or outright smashed and right in the middle, where Harry had crawled around was a big, gaping hole where the floor had given way. "You got the worst of it," Ron said quietly as he followed Harry's stare, "I was near the bed so I just fell back onto it." He reached out to lay a gentle hand on Harry's shoulder, "You alright Harry?"

 

Ron's concern had formed a crinkle between his eyebrows as he stared at Harry. The icy pit in his stomach was back and yet, this time Harry knew it was directed at himself as guilt left him cold. "Ron," he started, jaw clenching, "I didn't... I didn't mean for this to happen, I swear."

 

"Don't be stupid, there's no way you could have done that," a voice said groggily from behind them. Hermione was sitting up and swiping at the dirt around her forehead as she squinted at them. "You were angry but even accidental magic can't cause an explosion of that level."

 

"Hermione!" They both exclaimed before Harry hissed, pain shooting through his chest. Hermione, though, seemed to have recovered enough as she immediately stood up and dug out her wand from where it had rolled beneath the bed. Aiming at Harry, she muttered a quick  _"Episkey",_  and the immediate relief from pain left Harry giving out a sigh of relief. Hermione bit her lip, "It's only an intermediate healing spell," she warned, "we'll need to get you seen by a professional healer." 

 

At that moment, a huge shriek arose, filling the building with its raving. "Oh no," Hermione whispered, exchanging a glance with Ron who simply grimaced.

 

"Sirius' mum's started again," Ron groaned, "bloody mental that one. Why can't we just remove her portrait off that wall?"

 

"That's Sirius's mum?" Harry demanded and then shook his head, "never mind, keep your wands out. If it wasn't me then whatever caused that wasn't just a simple portrait." 

 

Clutching Ron, Harry slowly stood up and three of the inched around the room till they had reached the door. With a final look at each other, they held out their wands and left with Ron leading the way out and Hermione guarding their back. However, outside, it seemed there was no need for their wands. There were figures stumbling out from every room and ahead of them, the twins were stumbling down the stairs - Ginny balanced between them. 

 

"Everyone's evacuating," Hermione said in a hushed voice from behind them, "we need to hurry!"

 

"Never mind that!" Ron stalked ahead, pulling Harry along with him. "What's wrong with Ginny?!" He demanded loudly.

 

One of the twins turned back, "Hit her head." Harry could see that it was Fred, whose eyes then flickered over to Harry himself, eyes darkening as they took in the state of the trio. "Help us get her down and keep your wands out." 

 

Without having to be told twice, the group made their way down on high alert. Downstairs, the hallway was filled with even more debris if that was possible, splinters of wood were everywhere, dust thickly coating the air. Harry's eyes watered from the filth curled in the air and more than one person could be heard coughing.  In front of them, three figures stood clustered around the portrait of a raving woman.

 

The old woman was drooling, her eyes were rolling, the yellowing skin of her face stretched taut as she screamed, and all along the hall behind them, the other portraits awoke and began to yell, too, so much that Harry actually screwed up his eyes at the noise and clapped his hands over his ears.

 

The three standing in front of the portrait, however, were heatedly whispering amongst themselves as though nothing was wrong. Around them, doors were opening and people were coming out, many looking injured or ruffled with chalk and dust all over them. 

 

Someone barreled straight towards Harry and as they came closer, Harry realised that it was Lupin. He looked worse than normal if that was possible but his amber eyes were dark and hard as he swept his eyes over the group. Landing on Ginny, he quickly pulled her out of the twin's grasp. As he ran his wand over her head, his movements were quick and practised, no doubt under necessity but his hold on her was gentle. 

 

Harry licked his lips. "Professor Lupin-"

 

Lupin looked up, "She'll be fine Harry."  He offered a wane smile and then transferred his hold on Ginny back to the twins. "Dumbledore's been called so no need to worry." He raised his wand, aiming at his neck.  _"Sonorous,"_ he muttered and his voice came out loud and clear, echoing over the house and quelling the frenzied movement all around them. "Dumbledore's been called! Don't panic - any wounded that needs to be treated should be taken to the meeting room. Sirius and Tonks will take care of it. _Quietus._ " 

 

"Remus!" A breathless voice called and when Harry turned, he saw a flustered Mrs Weasley quickly approaching. It seemed that she too had noticed him and behind him, Ginny as she stopped in the middle of whatever she'd been about to say and had turned a rather ghastly shade of white. 

 

"She'll be fine Molly," Lupin said quietly, stepping forward. "Just knocked unconscious - nothing more." 

 

Breath seemed to return to Mrs Weasley at the statement and though she seemed to have difficulty keeping her eyes off Ginny, she came closer. "The doors won't allow anyone through Remus, windows, portkey, apparition - we've tried everything. They've all been blocked off." Harry noticed that her palms were sweaty, her wand nearly sliding out of her grasp. Abruptly, it seemed like his stomach had dislodged and sunk to the bottom of some great, deep hole and when he looked up, Lupin met his eyes, his face tighter than before. 

 

At that moment, Harry knew they were both thinking the same thing.

 

Harry swallowed. "He's here for me," he said clenching his wand tightly, "you should - he won't come after the rest of you if you give me up." 

 

"There'll be no need for that Harry," a voice said behind them. Ron pulled Hermione to the side to reveal Dumbledore, wand aloft and face terribly grim. Harry did not think he had ever seen Dumbledore's eyes burn as coldly before. "I do not think Tom is behind this," Dumbledore said softly, tracking something on the other side of the room, "rather, it seems to have come from a peculiar source." He turned towards Lupin. "If you would, Remus?"

 

Lupin did not even hesitate. "Behind me, now," He said firmly as Dumbledore strode forward. Mrs Weasley, too moved beside Lupin, like a shield in front of them and as one they both raised their wands in the same circular motion. " _Bono malum superate."_ Instantly, a molten gold liquid erupted around them, encasing them til they could only see Dumbledore joining Sirius in the middle of the hallway through a shimmery curtain of gold. 

 

Dumbledore kept going until he reached the portrait which had kept up it's raving all this time. With a _bang!_ the moth-eaten curtains were slammed back into place, closing over the face of the old lady whose screams had only gotten higher at the sight of Sirius. Dumbledore then raised his wand to aim at... the three small figures directly beneath the portrait. "Who are you?" Dumbledore said thunderously, Sirius stepping up beside him to aim his wand at the frozen figures.

 

"And why," Sirius said in a hard tone, "did you invade my house?"

 

The smaller figure turned. Sirius recoiled like he'd been slapped, face pale as he staggered back and Harry could suddenly see why - Sirius' eyes stared accusingly up at them from that youthful face. "I'm Damian Regulus Black," the kid sneered as he stepped forward, "and you're in _my_ house."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do have a tumblr! If any of you are curious about what our dimensional travellers look like check out the casting [here](https://i-dlovetobeknowunknown.tumblr.com/tagged/progress)
> 
> You can read the names off the tags!


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